Raipur
Win Projections to be updated soon
Pakistan 110 for 1 (Feroza 57, Muneeba 46*) defeated Nepal 108 for 6 (Joshi 31*, Magar 26, Iqbal 2-19) by nine wickets
Pakistan kept their Women’s Asia Cup campaign alive with a dominant nine-wicket victory over Nepal in Dambulla on Sunday evening.
The win boosted Pakistan’s net run-rate to 0.409 and propelled them to second place on the points table.
Nepal’s strong start
Samjhana Khadka, coming off a match-winning half-century against UAE, hit Fatima Sana for a boundary over extra cover on the fourth ball of the innings. However, she mistimed a pull shot on the next ball and was caught easily at short midwicket by Nashra Sandhu.
Iqbal’s crucial contributions
Nepal’s next boundary came in the ninth over when Rubina Chhetry hit Sandhu down the ground for four. However, Chhetry’s run-out in the following over halted Nepal’s momentum. Shortly after, Magar was also run-out while attempting a risky second run.
Joshi and Mahato’s late fightback
Feroza and Muneeba’s exceptional batting
If Nepal believed they had set a competitive total, Feroza and Muneeba quickly dispelled that notion. Feroza started the chase with a boundary through covers off the first ball. She continued to find boundaries and reached 20 off 16 balls. Meanwhile, Muneeba took some time to settle but eventually found her rhythm. In the sixth over, she hit Magar for three consecutive fours as Pakistan reached 52 without loss at the end of the powerplay.
Even after the field restrictions were lifted, Nepal’s bowlers struggled as Pakistan continued to score freely. Boundaries were a regular feature in every over of the chase.
Feroza alone hit eight fours in the first eight overs and reached her maiden T20I fifty off 30 balls. By the time she was dismissed, Pakistan needed only four runs, which Muneeba secured with yet another boundary.
